Effect and cerebral mechanism of moxibustion at heat-sensitized Yaoyangguan (GV3) in patients with lumbar disc herniation and myofascial pain syndrome by resting-state functionality magnetic resonance imaging: protocol for an observational study.

We want to explore the analgesic brain effect of the moxibustion at heat-sensitized Yaoyangguan (GV3) in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). In an assessor-blinded observational study, we will include 15 LDH and 15 MPS. They will accept same treatment of heat-sensitive moxibustion at Yaoyangguan (GV3). The resting-state functionality magnetic resonance imaging image data of brain activities before and after treatment will be analyzed by mean fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, regional homogeneity analysis and brain functional connection. We select seed of first sensory cortex, second sensory cortex, insula cortex, periaqueductal gray and anterior cingulate cortex as the regions of interest to analyse the relationship between brain functional connectivity of pain-related networks and clinical data. Our study could disclose key brain targets and central response characteristics of the analgesic brain effect and the brain functional connection of heat-sensitive moxibustion.

The application of situational heuristic teaching method in the teaching of acupuncture and moxibustion / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective Aiming at the characteristics of the course of acupuncture and massage,to discuss the application of Situational heuristic teaching.Methods 60 undergraduate students in Grade Four of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (clinical practice) were even divided into 2 groups,that was situational teaching group (the experimental group) and the traditional teaching group (control group).The students in the experimental group received basic theory course of 30 hours,60 hours in the course of situational teaching.The clinical cases of teaching were carefully designed according to the simulated hospital scene in each chapter,including large cases,acupuncture and massage therapy program,which were conducted between teachers and students through interactive and positive research and other forms.In the control group the teachers taught the content to students in class for full 90 hours in accordance with the requirements of the teaching syllabus.Taking objective theoretical examination,subjective questionnaire survey,and subjective clinical return visit questionnaire scores as indicators the difference of the two kinds of teaching methods were compared and statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS 19.0 software,chi square test and t test.Results By comparison of objective theoretical examination results of two groups of subjects,the number of good students in the experimental group was 10,and the number of outstanding students was 7,with an average of (80.63 ± 1.35) points.In the control group,the number of good students was 9,the number of outstanding students was 6,with the average score of (80.54 ± 1.32),and the average score of the objective theory test scores were not statistically significant (P＞0.05).The learning satisfaction of the students in the experimental group was (3.91 ± 0.29).Students in the experimental group thought situation heuristic teaching was conducive to professional development (3.23 ± 0.39),to improving the learning quality (3.68 ± 0.72),clinical thinking culture (4.11 ± 0.24),clinical ability (3.72 ± 0.27),clinical physician-patient communication skills (3.28 ± 0.79),basic clinical skills (3.48 ± 0.42) points,with teaching satisfaction (4.19 ± 0.25),which were all higher than the control group,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion Situational heuristic teaching method is better than the traditional teaching method in stimulating students' learning enthusiasm,innovation ability,cultivating professional interest and cultivating students' clinical practice ability.The teaching practice of teachers should give full play to the advantages of the method and improve the teaching effect,which is worthy of further research and promotion.

Effect of ovariectomy on rat behavior and hippocampal neuronal nitric oxide synthase and electroacupuncture intervention role / 生物医学工程学杂志

In order to explore the possible mechanism of EA (Electroacupuncture) in improving cognitive impairment, the present study was to research the effect of EA on the behavior and expression of the hippocampal neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) protein of the ovariectomized rats. Forty female SD rats were randomly and equally divided into four groups: sham group (ovarian fat around removal), model group (ovariectomy), sham EA group (sham EA stimulation after ovariectomy) and EA group (EA stimulation after ovariectomy). Two weeks after the ovariectomy, EA and sham EA were applied continuously for 3 months. In the experiment, Morris water maze was used to test the ability of spatial learning and memory, while enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) were used to detect the concentration of serum estradiol (E2) and relative expression of nNOS protein. The results showed that the escape latency of the EA and sham EA groups was shortened and the number of platform-crossing was significantly increased. The concentration of serum E2 and the expression of nNOS protein in both EA group and sham EA group were significantly elevated compared to those in the model group, while increment in the EA group was more significant (P<0.01). It could be concluded that from above experimental results, EA could be capable of improving learning and memory in ovariectomized rats by promoting the expression of nNOS protein through increasing the concentration of estrogen.